organic lesson

At the No Spray Coalition, we try to be inclusive to all beings while recognizing that there are instances where some are more “wanted” than others! And there is always an alternative to pesticides as this guest post from Sam at Organic Lesson outlines:While it may be effective, using chemical pesticide to get rid of garden pests is not recommended due to the detrimental impact it could have on the surrounding ecosystem. Instead of resorting to chemicals, you may be interested in using beneficial insects instead. These insects are considered beneficial because they are natural predators to the pests and don’t cause any serious damage to your garden.

Some beneficial insects, like ladybugs and praying mantis, can be bought and delivered, but if they are native to where you live then you might want to try a few tricks to attract them to your garden naturally. A few of the more effective tricks is to provide these insects adequate shelter, grow nectar-rich flowers, and to provide a moist environment. For example, beetles and spiders like moist environments so you could attract them to your garden by spreading a layer of mulch around your plants.

Ultimately, each insect may be attracted by different things so it is important that you do your research on the types of beneficial insects that are native to you area and the conditions they are most attracted to. To learn more, you can view the above infographic by Organic Lesson. The infographic highlights seven different beneficial insects and the type of plants they are attracted to.

Thinking Holistically

Pest Control Chain Reaction
To treat a malaria outbreak in Borneo in the 1950s, the World Health Organization (WHO) sprayed DDT to kill mosquitoes. But the DDT also killed parasitic wasps which were controlling thatch-eating caterpillars. As a result, the thatched roofs of many homes fell down, and the DDT-poisoned insects were eaten by geckoes, which were in turn eaten by cats. The cats perished, which led to the multiplication of rats, and then outbreaks of sylvatic plague and typhus.
To put an end to this destructive chain of events, WHO had to parachute 145,000 live cats into the area to control the rats.